ABSTRACT

Since the late-1980s the rise of the Internet and the emergence of the Networked Society have led to a rapid and profound transformation of everyday life. Underpinning this revolution is the computer – a media technology that is capable of not only transforming itself, but almost every other machine and media process that humans have used throughout history.

In Philosophy of Media, Hassan and Sutherland explore the philosophical and technological trajectory of media from Classical Greece until today, casting a new and revealing light upon the global media condition. Key topics include:

  • the mediation of politics
  • the question of objectivity
  • automata and the metaphor of the machine
  • analogue and digital
  • technological determinism.

Laid out in a clear and engaging format, Philosophy of Media provides an accessible and comprehensive exploration of the origins of the network society. It is essential reading for students of philosophy, media theory, politics, history and communication studies.

chapter |12 pages

Introduction: in medias res

part |2 pages

PART I Problems and debates in media: from antiquity to modernity

chapter 1|15 pages

The disruptive power of the written word

chapter 2|14 pages

The mediation of politics

chapter 3|18 pages

Encoding the universe

chapter 4|19 pages

The question of objectivity

chapter 5|20 pages

Automata and the metaphor of the machine

chapter 6|17 pages

Form, matter and simulation

chapter |5 pages

Part I summary

part |2 pages

PART 1I The new age of digital reason

chapter 7|19 pages

Analogue and digital

chapter 8|14 pages

Technological determinism

chapter 9|16 pages

Global media society

chapter 10|16 pages

End of modern politics?

chapter 11|19 pages

Technological innovation and time

chapter 12|18 pages

Digitality and an ethic of responsibility